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In what marks a potentially interesting reversal of fortune for Apple in its quest to trademark "iPad mini," the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has withdrawn its primary objections to Apple's application to secure the trademark in question.

"Upon further review of the application, the examining attorney has determined that the following refusals issued in the initial Office action should be withdrawn," examining attorney Lee-Anne Berns noted. "The examining attorney apologizes for any inconvenience caused."

In the big picture, however, this doesn't mean that Apple is now guaranteed the trademark that it seeks.

There may still be reasons to deny trademark protection to "iPad mini". For one, although Berns has found "no similar registered mark that would bar registration" (her emphasis), there may be similar marks in "prior-filed pending applications" that would bar Apple from gaining a trademark.

Apple will also be required to amend its trademark application to include a disclaimer that it doesn't seek to trademark the lone term "mini."

"An applicant may not claim exclusive rights to terms or designs that others may need to use to describe or show their goods or services in the marketplace," Berns writes.

That is messed up...
Someone should start a petition for a federal investigation to all the bank accounts owned by people who works at patent/trademark office that gave Apple their patents/trademarks, and a review of all previous granted patents/trademarks to Apple.

If Apple was allowed to trademark "iPod mini" so long ago, isn't that a precedent? What possible reason could there be to deny this one? It would be a bureaucratic failure if some other company legally makes a product called "iPad mini."

If Apple was allowed to trademark "iPod mini" so long ago, isn't that a precedent? What possible reason could there be to deny this one? It would be a bureaucratic failure if some other company legally makes a product called "iPad mini."

They can't because Apple successfully trademarked "iPad." If someone made a "iPed mini" then, well, they'd probably still get in trouble.